A/N: Well, I'm back! And time for another chapter. Nothing much to report on...so I'll just get started with the chapter.
Chapter 6: Easy Prey for a Dangerous Predator
Leila stared at the viewscreen in horror, then faced the young ensign.
"Find my ship before I strangle the hell out of you!" she growled at him. The ensign, intimidated, quickly nodded and immediately got to work.
"Whoa, Leila," said B'Elanna. "You are really starting to sound like me! That's something I would say!"
"I'm aware," answered Leila. "I'm half-Klingon, aren't I?"
That statement seemed to summarize everyone's feelings at that particular moment.
"Captain, we're receiving a message," said Tuvok. "But it's scrambled."
"Well, unscramble it and get it through," Janeway replied. Tuvok was silent for a moment, then said, "It's from Starfalcon."
"Then it's even more important!" cried Leila. "What's it say?" The Vulcan pressed a button, and a voice filled the air.
"Starfalcon to Voyager!" it cried, though Leila could barely make it out. "Is anyone there? Captain Featherflame!" Leila suddenly recognized the voice. "Out of my way," she said, shoving past Tuvok. She pressed a button and spoke, "Voyager here, this is Featherflame. What's wrong, Kiyoshi? Where are you?"
"We're being...attacked!" Kiyoshi Yukisama's voice wavered in and out of static. "I don't know by what, but there's a voice that keeps saying we'll be assimilated, and that resistance is futile! What is it, Captain?" Leila gasped; at the same time she felt a sharp pain in her abdomen. The pain became multiple shocks, and she grew concerned. Were these contractions? If they were, her triplets were coming four months too early! Pain blinding her, Leila stumbled to Janeway's chair and collapsed in it, trying to bring herself back to alertness.
"Captain?" Kiyoshi asked after a few seconds. Leila glared up at the viewscreen, still panting from her efforts.
"The Borg," she growled finally. "The Borg are attacking my ship!"
Janeway watched as Leila shakily stood up. She strode over to help the young captain, but the fourteen-year-old half-Klingon merely brushed her aside.
"I don't care what your previous orders were," she growled at Janeway's crew. "Go to warp nine. We're going to find Starfalcon and save it from the Borg."
Ensign Kim looked questioningly at Janeway. His face seemed to say, Captain, help me out. What do I do?
She looked over at Leila. "We are your crew to command," she told her. "Voyager is yours to pilot until we find Starfalcon."
"All right," Leila agreed. "Commander Tuvok, you attempt to reestablish a connection with Youngling Yukisama."
"Youngling, Captain Featherflame?"
"Lower than an ensign."
"Captain, they're called cadets," Janeway informed her. If Leila really wanted to be a Starfleet captain, a good one, she'd have to work on memorizing the officer ranks!
"Okay," said Leila. "Cadet Yukisama, then. I'm going to promote him and the other cadets to ensigns when we find them. Ensign Kim, you work on getting Starfalcon's coordinates. Commander Chakotay, open a private channel to Commander Korgrithal and tell him his orders are to keep firing at the cube. Lieutenant Paris, you keep Voyager flying."
"Aye-aye, Captain," Paris responded.
"Lieutenant Torres." Leila turned and faced her sister. "You are going to open a private channel to Chief Engineer Karangia. Tell her how to defend Starfalcon's weapons and shields against a Borg attack." B'Elanna nodded. Janeway was impressed at Leila's command. She had never seen a teenager command a crew with such seriousness and the correct use of Starfleet terms. Then again, Leila was not like any other teenager.
"Those are your orders," said Leila. "Follow them, and follow them well."
"Yes, Captain Featherflame," the crew said in unison.
"Captain Janeway, you come with me," Leila ordered. Janeway nodded and followed Leila off the bridge.
Leila led Janeway to her quarters.
"Guess what," she said shortly. She sat down at the table and propped her head on her hands. Janeway sat across from her.
"What?" she asked.
"I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing," Leila replied. "Starfalcon's never dealt with the Borg before! Most of my crew have no clue what to do. We all know what the Borg are, but we don't know how to fight them off."
"I'm sure we can give your crew some pointers if we can get them all on here one day," said Janeway. Leila smiled and nodded, when a heavily-accented voice drifted out of her badge.
"Professoressa!" the voice cried. "Professoressa Featherflame, are you there?" Leila slapped the badge and replied, "Featherflame here. What's wrong, cadet?"
"The Borg!" exclaimed the cadet. "The Borg have...assimilate most of crew!"
"What?" screeched Leila. "Lydia Venezia, you had better tell me who's all left on Starfalcon!"
"Um..." The cadet paused. "Ensign Oakblade, Christie Kasumi, me...Engineer Karangia, and Cadet Yukisama and that's it."
"Which Yukisama?" Leila asked.
"Kiyoshi," Lydia replied. "Everyone else assimilated!"
"Damn it!" Leila brought her fist slamming down on the table. When she lifted it, she found she had cracked the surface.
"I'm a horrible captain!" she wailed. "I let my crew get assimilated by the Borg! That's the last thing I wanted to happen!" She then buried her head in her arms.
"You're not a horrible captain," Janeway consoled. "Horrible captains purposefully lead their crews into dangerous situations. Horrible captains spend all their time partying and not business. Horrible captains don't care about their ships or crews. Horrible captains, Leila...is not what you are."
Leila stood up. "My Klingon half hates to admit it," she said, "but you're right, Janeway. I'm going to have to save my crew from the Borg in every way possible. And to do that I can only say one possible solution: assimilation."
A/N: Next Chapter: Klingon Assimilation!
Leila tells B'Elanna about her plan of assimilation. Will the two Klingons go through with it?
Oh, and by the way...I'm taking Italian this year, so Cadet Lydia Venezia is Italian. And if I start writing my chapters in Italian...I'm extremely sorry about that. I'll translate them.
Please r/r this chapter! Thankies!
